My dream: Visit the Huai Nam Dang Park

Between Paï and Mae Tong, to the North West of Chiang Maï, there is a national park called "Huaï Nam Dang".
So wild, so beautiful. Verdure, trees, mountains on the horizon, on 180 square kilometers.
Nature at its purest!
It seems that the best season to visit this park is in January because cherry trees have white pure flowers.

Huai Nam Dang National Park

Just go to the administrative office of this park and ask them for a tent. They offer you to sleep there waiting for the sunrise illuminating this amazing landscape.
Fees: for Admission, Adult 200 baht, Child 100 baht / for a Tent, 250-800 baht
Enjoy! 

Northern Thailand

Northern Thailand is my favourite region of Thailand.

Its mountains, its verdure, its history with the tribal people who take refuge make this place a wonderful place.

The towns of this region are very reputed : Lampang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, … There are also towns less known by the foreigners but very attractive for Thai people like Paï.

If you are interested in cooler temperature, you'll like this region. However, it's sometimes too cool to dive in the swimming pool !

Amazing Nature near Chiang Maï

20 min from Chiang Maï

 What to do there ?

If I had the opportunity to choose the town where I would like to live in the whole Thailand, it would be Chiang Mai without any doubt. What an amazing town ! You'll find everything there : malls, cinemas, restaurants, so many activities like trekking, elephant rides, visiting waterfalls, night bazars, hotspots, festivals and so on. And you can also retreat in very quiet places in the mountains for instance.

Thai dance, a specialty of theNorthern region

What to eat there ?

You can find in Northern Thailand all the Thai food but there are some specialties. According to my Thai wife, food is less spicy but more sweety than the other regions of Thailand.

My favorite specialty of this region is "Lap Mu/ Lap Nua" which is a cold dish containing meat (pork for "mu", beef for "nua"), onions, chillies, roasted rice and mint.

You will love Thai food... or not

Thai food is for certain very good because spicy and tasty with strong aromatic components. For other ones, it's not good because spicy and tasty.
For me, it wasn't my favourite food and from the second week in Thailand, I wanted to eat "normal" food. Some of my friends ate at Mc Do everyday !
But, I've learned to love it.
You can ask for a meal without spice event to Thai people who don't speak english. Just say: "maï saï pric" (don't put spice).
Thai food is often sweet and sour with herbs and spices, coconut milk, fermented fish sauce, and so on.
I'll write some posts on special thai dishes.
Here is a picture of one of my favourite dish, beef with basilic and onions:

Which trip to select for your first time in Thailand ?

Most of the travel agencies offer a Thailand tour with 1week traveling through this country and 1 week resting on the beach of Pattaya, Koh Samui or Phuket.
This is a good package which will allow you to know the spots of tourism in Thailand. The spots that you will visit are mainly the same according to the agencies.

Extra - Floatting market

One of the temples

Elephant Show, extra - trekking on an elephant

Even if you will be upset by the food (mainly the fruits that you will eat all along the day), the quantity of temples visited, mass tourism and extras that you must pay every day to do amazing activities, it's the easiest way to visit this country.

Then, you will spend your last week to the seaside resort of your choice. During our tour, our group was divided in 3 for each town and we had the opportunity to see them at the airport at the end of our trip.
The people the most disappointed were the ones who went to Pattaya. They found this town too "sexual' oriented and the beach too dirty. However, it was 6 years ago and the mayor did several improvements to change this image.
The other ones were quite satisfied except certain of them disappointed by the sea at Koh Samui, not deep enough.

Extra - Visiting an Island

Nevertheless, this is a good way to visit Thailand the first time. You are not alone and you visit the main towns. And when you want to go back Thailand (because you will want it), we suggest you to organize your trip by your own. Select towns less visited, amazing hotels or B&B and choose the great food of Thailand chefs.
Feel free to contact us if you need any advice for your trip.

Our 10 Favorite Towns in Thailand and why

Here is the list of our 10 Favorite Towns (including Islands) in Thailand. This list is our list so very subjective. We are more interested in quiet place with activities for family. It can explain a little bit more this sort.

1. Chiang Mai
2. Hua Hin
3. Bangkok
4. Krabi
5. Phuket
6. Koh Samui
7. Lampang
8. Lopburi
9. Ayyuthaya
10. Pattaya

1/ We adore Chiang Mai, this is the place where we would like to live. The second biggest place in Thailand after Bangkok but with a quiet atmosphere. You can find everything in Chiang Mai: very good restaurants, shopping, night markets, temples and so on. This is also a very beautiful town with verdure. To have a great view of Chiang Mai, visit the temple located in a mount near the town. You just have to climb more than 300 steps to get there!

Amazing hotel where we went in the suburb of Chiang Mai

You also have a very big and free zoo. So you can stay few days there.

2/ Hua Hin is a little town at the seaside, very very quiet with all amenities.

About Thailand

• Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, headed by King Rama IX
• The world's 51st-largest country in terms of total area, with an area of approximately 513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi)
• The 20th-most-populous country, with around 64 million people
• The capital and largest city is Bangkok, which is Thailand's political, commercial, industrial and cultural hub
• About 75% of the population is ethnically Thai, 14% is of Chinese origin, and 3% is ethnically Malay. The rest belong to minority groups including Mons, Khmers and various hill tribes
• The country's official language is Thai
• The primary religion is Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of the population. Muslims are the 2d largest religious group in Thailand
  

  
• Tourism contributes significantly to the Thai economy, as the country is home to a number of well-known tourist destinations, including Ayutthaya, Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Ko Samui

(source: wikipedia)

Where is Thailand ?

This is a good question when we never went to this wonderful country.
Thailand, called "Muang thai" by the Thai, is located in Southeast Asia between Myanmar (western border), Laos (northern border), Cambodia (eastern border) and Malaysia (southern border) as shown on the following Google maps:

In order to have an idea of the distance, there are 8664 miles (13941 km) between Bangkok (capital of Thailand) and New York. For the fun and if you have time, it takes 6 days to go to Thailand from France by car, 96 days by foot. Who dares to challenge the trip ?

To get more complete information about the geography, visit Wikipedia.